If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Retiring

Awhile back I posted a thread saying I was retiring from hunting. I was serious when I posted it. It started to eat on me, and I was having second thoughts.

Then a thread was posted on the 24campfire forum that completely changed my mind. It's a great thread about an old hunter, and made me feel embarrassed to think I was retiring at such a young age of 70. So, i'll continue to hunt until I reach this old dudes age, or die trying.

98 and still hunting is awesome! Heck at 98 and being able to still take a breath is amazing in itself. My thought is each and every day and moment is a gift. Each person will use that gift in the way that fits them. I hope I'll be able to enjoy some of my future days in a similar way as that 98 year young gent did, doing something in the outdoors he enjoied. To me he is not 98 years old but 98 years young. Our bodies do age as we get older but getting the most out of what we have been given and that adventure is a special gift in itself.

I'm glad that thread inspired you Old Hunter. I hope the future adventures and hunts to come will bring you much joy and happiness. God bless you.

Well, I have four elk PP, that should get me a good hunt somewhere while I try to get enough PP for a decent deer hunt. See how much influence you have Pete. Heck I am loading the Jeep, ready to start scouting. Got my Zen Rays, got my Olympus No gun this time. Merry Christmas

I've tried to add more difficulty to my hunts from now on. I really want to bow hunt, but my beat up shoulders won't allow it. So, i've come up with something close. Sort of.

I'll continue to use a muzzleloader, but instead of an inline with scope and modern bullets. I'm going to use a sidelock, iron sights, and a round ball. (PRB) With my poor eyesight. This will limit my shots to 50yds. My goal will be a bull and buck.

I predict many passed up shots, and tag soup, but I can't wait for the feeling i'll get if I can get it done. As usual, i'll be hunting alone on public land. It should be a fun journey.

Lost my Dad this last October at 94, we hunted together all my life (71 years). Dad killed his last elk with me here in Colorado when he was 90. the way he whooped it up afterwards, you'd of thought it was his first. We hunted geese here last January, last time he picked up a gun.

Bottom line....hunt until you drop, literally. I am not quitting until I can't walk anymore, then I'll try to convince my son to drive me around.

Colorado Cowboy
Cowboy Action Shooter; Endowment Life Member-NRA
The Original Rocket Scientist-Retired
"My Father always considered a walk in the mountains as the equivalent of church going."
Aldous Huxley

CC and Old Hunter you have rekindled my fires. All though I am Social Security age I don't feel that old except at times when the aches and pains start complaining! There is no doubt that I will continue to hunt in some fashion as long as I am able to pick up a weapon of some sort. A buddy of mine knew an old guy that was still hunting in his early 90's and was in the field only a couple months after having double hip replacements. Us old guys still rock!!!

Jerry...as I said in another post, the real key to staying active and hunting at a ripe old age is to stay fit. I am in better shape now that when I was 50! I work out at the gym 3 or 4 times a week and walk the other days. Like ol' Satchel Page said...."Don't look back, they might be catching up".

Colorado Cowboy
Cowboy Action Shooter; Endowment Life Member-NRA
The Original Rocket Scientist-Retired
"My Father always considered a walk in the mountains as the equivalent of church going."
Aldous Huxley

I just got back from my daily hike in the mountains with the pooch. A foot of snow made the hills a little harder today, but I feel good now. One year I let myself get out of shape during the winter. I never got fit enough through the summer for the fall hunt, and almost passed out hunting. I won't do that again. I'm out there everyday in blizzard, or heat wave.

I work on a horse ranch and clean sixteen stalls every day packing hay etc, keeps me fit. CC i too am in better shape now than when I was fifty. I sat behind a desk, then retired and now have lost most of the weight I would like to lose (about 15 pounds to go) Most of my stamina and wind has returned. Though I was a little bummed out this year because my 40 year old son out hiked me this year for the first time! Oh well try again next season!